


minor shutdown sequence

by Rulerofthecosmosandsnails



Category: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Lowercase, Spoilers for the latest chapter, a little bit of mental shut down, merula/player if you squint, now with part two: electric boogaloo, still an open ending tho (i think?), this was written over a period of an hour and a half and then posted immediately, unbetaed we die like... you know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:47:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22842730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rulerofthecosmosandsnails/pseuds/Rulerofthecosmosandsnails
Summary: The aftermath of the Forbidden Forest hits everyone hard. None more so than the three students who witnessed the murder, though they’ve been coping with it in their own ways.Dimitra has been missing for a day and a half.
Relationships: Player Character/Merula Snyde
Comments: 5
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

merula finds her in the dilapidated shrieking shack. she is sitting, slumped against a peeling wall, and does not acknowledge her presence as she strides towards her with all the bravado of someone who hadn’t witnessed a murder two nights before. her voice is all bark as she tells her that her losers - ahem, her friends - are worried about her. there’s a bit that she doesn’t add, the “and me” at the end that went unspoken, but not unfelt. 

dimitra doesn’t respond; her only outward sign of life the slow rise and fall of her chest. she stares forward, her murky yellow eye achingly hollow. when seconds pass, heavy with silence, merula says her name again, softer, with a step forward. nothing flinches nor twitches at the closer proximity, like she had been all this year. 

(this year’s dimitra had been cautious, almost to a fault. that woman’s betrayal last year ensured it. though, in light of recent events, not cautious enough.)

merula pauses in front of her, casting a shadow over her inert form. it made her look gaunt, almost wraith-like with the unhealthy tinge her skin had begun to acclimate. the scar only added - no. merula forcefully shakes these thoughts out of her mind, and kneels in front of her. that garners a reaction, minuscule as a blink may be, at least it was punctuated by the sluggish raise of her head. her haunting expression fails to change, however, as she seems to stare straight through her.

a whispered nickname falls from her lips, one that penny still insists on using. it gains another blink, and a flash of something in her eye. her breath stutters momentarily. good.

her hand creeps forward to settle in the crook of her elbow. her skin is curiously cold. she twitches, blinks, and some faint revelation dawns on her. dimitra inhales deeper, sharper, and her arm quivers lightly. 

her lips move; merula’s name is murmured roughly, the syllables stilted and jerky on her dry tongue. she waits, and waits, as dimitra’s arm bends, her hand falling from her forearm, and her fingers trace along her sleeve (how could she stand being in this drafty shack without a coat, merula wonders faintly, and remembers how her arm was abnormally chilled) before shakily gripping the fabric.

she takes this as an invitation to rise, dimitra’s hold slipping on the sleeve of her robe until she’s barely touching the cuff. merula slides her hand into hers, and tugs. if a few (muggle) curses are muttered in the process of helping her stand, no one else is around to hear. once on her two feet, she stumbles and ends up leaning heavily on the first thing she could feel, which was merula. she swears again, mumbling about clumsy idiots as her cheeks heat against her will. her entire body seems frigid, as though she’d stayed overnight (though she suspects she might be right.)

before they exit the shack, dimitra’s head dips down, her breath ghosting against her ear. merula shivers as she mutters - slurs quietly - about taking a secret passage. she’s about to hiss back, but figures that she wouldn’t like anyone else to see her like this, and reluctantly sets off for the side of the castle. 

as they shamble through the wall-that’s-not-a-wall, dimitra asks if she could sleep in merula’s bed.


	2. Walking Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i’m too in love with merula to not do this

merula didn't answer right away. how could she, when her question caught her that off guard. sputtering, she managed a weak "maybe" before they tumbled out into the castle hallway. as the bricks clacked shut behind them, she shouldered more of her weight, until dimitra was nearly draped over her entire back. merula told her to shut up when she muttered an apology into her collarbone. walking like that was clunky, but not enough so they were tripping over each other with every step. 

they stopped in front of a large portrait. the man leaned forward, the snakes on his arms hissing faintly as merula muttered, "colloportus." 

he bowed and the painting swung open into the slytherin common room, where she deposited dimitra on a couch in front of the fireplace and told her - commanded her - to stay put. she didn't wait for an answer as she turned on her heel and disappeared up the stairs into her housemate's dorm room. 

at the end of the dorm where her bed was, the space looked as haphazard as she remembered; books strewn around the floor, riddled with writing and passages colored with what copper called a 'highlighter'. crumpled papers stuffed in a spare bin, some littered around the floor closest to it. the parchment that wasn't balled-up was stacked in piles that must have only seemed organized to their owner. she strode over to her dresser and pulled out the drawers that weren't already ajar, rifling through her clothes until she found a suitable outfit to sleep in. closing the drawers, she noted the presence of the bear slippers next to the unmade bed, picked them up, and left without a backward glance. 

as she returned, dimitra had curled her back into the couch cushions and was staring into the fire with a blank eye. merula rolled her eyes and tugged at her arm until she stood, pressed the clothes into her arms, and hissed at her to take a bath. it took a little bit of looking back and forth from the clothing in her arms to the increasingly irate girl in front of her, but she finally looked to the ground and mumbled an affirmative, but could you please, merula, help me there? 

she sighed and groaned and muttered scathing things about general nuisances, but again offered her shoulder for her to lean on. a quiet, almost sleepy hum of thanks buzzed in her ear. dimitra was lightly swatted in retaliation. 

merula dropped her off at the entrance to the baths with threats about drowning herself in the tub. there was an attempt at a smile at her thinly-veiled worry, but it seemed to feel so unnatural at that point that it was dropped as quickly as it appeared. when she disappeared into the bathroom, she cast her mink patronus with a wave of her wand and the memory of her first christmas at the burrow. whispering, she told it to go find haywood and tell her that she found her, and that she'd be able to visit her tomorrow. as it hopped away, the resulting silence was deafening, so merula took it upon herself to loudly complain about the charms session she missed and how potions really wasn't the same when you didn't have an idiot to chop your things and order around. no reply came, not that she was expecting one. 

when dimitra came out of the bathroom with her hair dripping wet and her shirt on backwards, merula had slumped into a sit by the door and was rambling about what a horrible time she had with the newest herbology plant. she paused as she loomed over her, reminded on how she did the exact same just a half an hour ago, but her silence didn't last long. she raised an eyebrow at her wet-dog look and stood, snarking about how she could finally stand on her own now. Nevertheless, she took her by the wrist and lead her back with a gentleness that would make a portluck proud. 

as they bypassed her dorm and stopped at the neighboring room, dimitra interlocked their fingers to tug at her hand quizzically. merula's cheeks went a pretty shade of pink and she wouldn't look her in the eye as she hissed about her dorm's horribly messy state. she pointedly avoided the expression softening the questioning frown and dragged her into the room and next to her bed. 

merula weakly snarled about wet hair on her pillow as she gently pushed her onto the bed, looking around to see if anyone was awake (they weren't, and if they secretly were, merula wasn't above hexing one of her housemates.) dimitra wormed her way under the covers, but her yellow eye was suddenly blazing with question, even as it grew heavy. she paused, before a real snarl curled at her lip. 

"we're going to make her pay," merula muttered quietly, and then with more conviction, "we're going to kill her." 

dimitra looked like she wanted to say something, but her tongue was as heavy as her eye, and she dropped off into a deep sleep without more than a faint nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did nyall like it? apparently jam city tweeted something about merula and if they do anything bad to her they’re going to catch these hands.

**Author's Note:**

> so i watched the new chapters on youtube and. wow. they really did that. poor... you know
> 
> anyways this has been stuck in my head ever since and i just sat down and wrote it. merula love 2k20
> 
> might change the title


End file.
